No, there are not women of the night walking up and down this busy road. But there are massage parlors in south Forysth that are fronts to prostitution. This is a pretty serious accusation to make so I’m not going to name businesses. My readers are smart people – y’all figure it out.

I googled the name of one of these places. Almost all the links are to either prostitution review websites or online classifieds. These ads contain pictures of scantily clad women, most of whom are Asian. The review websites go into lurid detail. They’ll explain sexual acts “services” offered and the price someone might pay.

I write about this to offer some kudos to Alpharetta. Last night the city considered a stronger ordinance designed to keep these businesses away. The ordinance was so detailed it took the city attorney 37 minutes to read it into the record.

These illicit massage parlors invite criminal activities to the area. They can be linked to organized crime and human trafficking. They also contribute to diminished property values and overall blight of the community.

McFarland Parkway is still a safe place, for now. To keep it that way Forsyth County shoulder consider getting tough on massage parlors. Alpharetta’s stronger ordinance is terrific. But the consequences of it might be to push more of these parlors just across the county line.

As part of your reporting, did you happen to check with the neighboring tenants in those shopping centers? How do they feel about the places in question? Have they seen any problems? If there is prostitution being offered in those places, why hasn’t law enforcement done anything about it? My guess is the police aren’t getting complaints from anyone, so they are leaving them alone to run their businesses.

I for one would like to see the places gone. Forsyth has a chance to do something nice with McFarland. So far they haven’t made very good choices. If they aren’t careful this will not be a nice part of town in a few years.

I am concerned about the “Spas” and also the new rent by the week
motel that has just been established. There are no schools around, so guess where the sex offenders are going to live? We really need to come together as a community and make McFarland a better area.

Thank you for bringing this up on your blog. I am a long time reader and applaud you for bringing this to light! I live very close to one of these locations and am very involved in the “end it movement” that is currently trying to educate the public about the problem of human trafficking and modern day slavery right here in Atlanta. This is happening in our own backyards and we must fight it. 17,500 people are trafficked into the US annually. The average age is 14 years old. They are forced into prostitution. Indifference is not an option. These children have no voice.

I can’t believe that people are complaining about a long-term stay hotel. They are not for sex offenders. I stayed in one like that for about 6 weeks when I first moved here while my home was being built. They do attract a lot of IT workers from India who are contract employees, sometimes packed four into one room, but not sex offenders.

As to claims that most prostitutes are victims of human trafficking, there is no evidence to support that, at least not in the USA. Prostitution is the worlds oldest profession, and most who work in that field do so willingly because it pays well. I am not saying that human trafficking does not exist, but most claims about it are wildly exaggerated.

A year later, this business is still in operation, mostly in the wee hours of the morning. I am concerned as I have seen an increased number of women/girls walking down McFarland Rd recently. They never carry purses, but are always on cell phones, and always scantily clad, even when the weather does not agree. The long term hotel that opened also concerns me. In response to the the post above, while prostitution is the oldest profession and some women do willingly go into the business, it’s not so easy to get out once a pimp has gotten hold of you. Has anyone else noticed this?